Last weekend we put the boat in a marina and headed down to London to go to a birthday party. We had the whole of Friday night and Saturday day time to play with and managed to fill every spare minute.

We did some sightseeing. The weather was brilliant so we were able to wander around happily without getting drenched or frozen. This was my first time seeing The Shard. We didn’t have time to take in the view from the top – definitely something I’d love to do in the future.

View of The Shard

Reflection of The Shard

This looks like a great way to sight see – shame about their taste in beer.

Fantastic fishies atop the Old Billingsgate Fish Market

Vauxhall Bridge with the MI6 building

We went to Borough Market -one of my favourite London experiences. Luckily for the bank balance and much to Gordon’s relief we weren’t able to buy too much as we’d have had to keep it for a day and then cart it back to Doncaster on the coach.

Having seen what happened to the langoustine the gurnard’s looking a little alarmed.

Garlic anyone?

Not a stray apostrophe in sight!

Perhaps I should have asked her to say cheese?

Looks a lot more tempting than the average supermarket offering!

We managed an evening of drinking and eating with Ian and Shona on Friday night. It was great to spend some time with them and have a proper catch up before the mayhem of the party on Saturday.

Gordon & Ian in Cask

My grandson Jamie behind the bar in Cask – a great pub in Pimlico if you like real ale

Ian, Shona and I in the Stormbird in Camberwell. I loved those beer glasses.

We ate at Pasha which was where we were staying for the weekend. It’s the first time any of us had tried Kazakh cuisine and we were all very impressed.

The restaurant in the Pasha Hotel, Camberwell

Finally we got to the point of the visit – Shona’s Birthday Party and a very good party it was too.